Airplanes and other aircraft typically have built in redundancy such as the ability to be flown by a pilot or co-pilot. As such, the aircraft typically includes a pair of control input devices for the pilots to input control commands to the aircraft. These control input devices are often referred to as control columns. The control columns can be used by the pilot to input control commands that include the pitch and roll of the aircraft as it is flying through the air.
Typically, each control column includes a stick that the pilot manipulates to generate a desired control signal relating to the desired amount of pitch or roll for the aircraft.
To provide tactile cues to the other pilot, the control columns are typically coupled together such that changes in position of one of the sticks results in the same or similar changes in position of the other stick of the control column. In the past, this coupling was performed by an intricate system of pulleys that passed through the floor of the cockpit.
Unfortunately, when there was a problem in one of the control columns, the entire aircraft would have to taken in for maintenance because the control column could not be removed due to the system of cables. Further, the complex pulley system provided for increased maintenance costs.
The present invention relates to improvements in the art of control columns.